Could you imagine a world where no one stole anything, but freely shared with their neighbor?Could you dream what it would look like if people didn’t center their lives around greed, power, or even comfort, but instead sacrificially loved others?Could you envision a community where people had such respect for their fellow human beings that they refused to sleep with each other’s spouse, misrepresent anyone in any way, harbor ill will towards another, or even desire want someone else has?

That is God’s vision for humanity, and it is reflected in making rules He wants us to follow. And that’s where non-religious folks miss the point. God gives rules because He is trying to create something beautiful…a world of human flourishing and love.

But religious types miss the point too.

Because while God’s rules are beautiful and good, flawed humanity can’t keep them. So the rules only measure how we’ve missed the target rather than fixing our trajectory so we hit the target.